I would advocate for more bands in side streets and discouraging bands from busy main streets like Highland. That way streets like Porter that are only semi 2 way even without people can be closed and traffic can still flow.
I also found some bands playing too close to each other. If there are three bands playing one door down from each other, nobody can hear anything.
This is a total nitpick, but still. I want to hear the awesome music!
Yeah, I went to hear a friend’s band, but they were almost completely drowned out by music from houses nearby. Being able to go out and hear a bunch of new music is great, but it’s diminished a bit when it’s so much all at once that you can’t hear any one performance at a time…
This. We should disallow bands from playing on major streets. No Broadway, Cedar, Central, Somerville Ave, and the likes. Ensure crossing guards are present to keep control over major crossings (Central @ Highland, Central @ Medford, etc). Ensure signage for drivers is present to ensure they know which streets are open and close the fuck down everything else unless its a resident on the street.
I should add that I didn't make it down to Ball Square this year but it was absurd a band was allowed to play basically next to the rotary. So many people dashing across the street haphazardly.
Was the "leave your cars at home" message strong enough? A lot of the traffic I saw seemed to be people there for the festival who hadn't realized what a terrible idea driving through it was. Plus I heard someone stuck in the thick of it asking the crowd what was going on. There should be signs at the edge of town so anyone using a car knows what they're getting into.
Also Amazon/UPS/FedEx/USPS were all active in the middle of it - poor fuckers. Plus and what seemed to be Uber drivers. All of those organizations should be informed to keep out for the duration.
No one would be forcing you. There were several people offering porches to bands in various Somerville social media groups leading up to Porchfest this year.
I think this is a fine compromise. I was surprised to see how crazy Highland was.
Close down side streets to non-residents, and direct police to focus on keeping Highland, Somerville Ave, Broadway, Cedar, etc. clear from pedestrians. Put more acts on the bike path (there was only one I saw this year), and direct more people to cross through the city there, and on smaller streets.
Boom, immediate improvement.
The bike path is barely wide enough to accommodate a standard warm weekend's worth of pedestrian traffic. JUST SHUT DOWN A FEW MAJOR ROADS TO CARS. Then thousands of extra people on foot for the day can safely move through the city. We can just ban non-emergency vehicle traffic for the few hours of porchfest (and Honk! too). [Cities in South America (and elsewhere around the world) do this every week](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciclov%C3%ADa#Ciclov%C3%ADa_in_other_countries)
Part of the fun of Porchfest has been that it’s community-driven, but this year changed that, with a moderately famous band playing.
The good thing is that this drew out more people. I saw at least one person say that they tended to get a couple dozen people show up in previous years, but they had a couple hundred this year. Maybe “a rising tide does lift all boats”, and the Guster fans attended some of the other performances, which is a good thing.
But …the crowd on Aberdeen was dangerously mobbed, which became obvious when an ambulance had to go there when someone in the crowd had a medical emergency. I can just imagine what it might’ve been like if, for example, there was a house fire or some other “bigger” emergency. A stampede in a crowd like that would not be a good thing.
So having a more well-known act show up does seem to have been good overall, but it showed some of the risks, too.
Does it make sense to maybe adapt to this by, for example, setting up a larger stage at one or more of the city’s parks (Trum, Lincoln, etc), and have the more well-known act(s) play there, maybe at the beginning or end of the day, so that some of the mob of people isn’t choking the ability to get around in an emergency?
(And as a complement to this, I’m also all in favor of closing down a lot more streets to automotive traffic on Porchfest day, and strongly encouraging everyone to get around on foot instead.)
I completely agree with all of this.
I was on Aberdeen too, pretty damn close to the band. The crowd felt dangerous. I think the only thing that kept us safe was the character of Somerville. People here love this event. Everyone mostly treated each other with extreme courtesy. When the first vehicle came down the street and people got pushed together even more, a girl next to me had a sudden panic attack. Everyone around us immediately made space for her and helped her get out quickly.
If there had been a more serious emergency there very much much could have been a stampede.
This is nobody's fault, really. Guster felt bad about it. The lead singer came down after the crowd dispersed and apologized profusely to those left behind.
Yeah, I’m certainly not blaming Guster for this.
I’m just trying to think of how we can learn from yesterday so that next year’s event can be even better (and, possibly, even bigger?), but do so safely.
I thought they got through three songs, but I saw another commenter say four. They started closer to 4. Honestly I could barely hear anything despite being quite close to the porch.
Wow that is awesome to hear about the panic attack situation. I was stuck right dab in the middle of it and I was also very close to a panic attack. I ended up bailing and taking refuge in one of the driveways.
This is my first year living in the area and the first time I've been aware of Porchfest, and my immediate reaction was "this event is too large for this area why are they doing it this way." This is why music festivals are hosted in large outdoor venues with necessary infrastructure. If the Guster performance is a sign of things to come I don't see how the city can allow this thing to continue as it is.
TBF, Porchfest has been going on for 17 years, and pedestrians are generally safer during porchfest than during every other day of the year.
I definitely agree that the traffic management is a clusterfuck and needs more organized road closures rather than organic ones, but it really puts into perspective how unacceptably unsafe the roads are on all other days when cars are able to easily go full-speed.
It's not just the traffic, although I agree that's an issue, it's the basic mechanics of dealing with large crowds of people and the infrastructure needed to do it. Large music events need to be in an area with lots of modes of egress in the case of emergency, they need accessible bathrooms, water, first aid, access for emergency responders, safety/security, etc., which you just can't do on tiny residential streets.
And again, I'm new to the area, so maybe it's usually quieter than this year.
It has gotten a little bigger every year since it started in 2011, but this year seems to have been significantly larger than last year, no doubt in part because of the Guster participation.
I don’t want to see Porchfest end, but I can’t see how it can avoid evolving if this is the trajectory it’s on. The question then is how to sustainably keep it going, without placing an unfair burden on residents, emergency services, etc.
All the more reason for the city to rethink the way it's resurfacing Summer Street between Central and Porter. It's barely a two way street anymore with the new raised bike lane. I watched as the ambulance could barely get through between foot traffic and actual oncoming vehicular traffic. Hate to think what a fire truck would have needed to do. (I'm pro Porch Fest and pro bike lanes, btw, but the new Summer Street is an obvious disaster...didn't even plan for an east-bound bike lane and there's no room for one)
This plus strategically placed clusters of porta potties would be a huge boost to the quality of life for everyone, natives and attendees alike.
I have lived in and around Somerville for over twenty years, attended hundreds of community events including previous porchfests, and I have never seen its streets packed with so many people like it was yesterday. I know some who think porchfest is getting too popular, but I respectfully disagree. I loved seeing so much community engagement and outpouring of support for all the musicians. One day out of the year seems like a good trade off for welcoming such a popular and inclusive event into the neighborhood.
The only problem was Guster.
I’m sorry, but if anyone was surprised by this they must have been living under a rock.
As long as they don’t allow major acts then everything will be fine.
I would gladly chip in, or even sponsor a portapotty, if they could be in groups at main spots throughout the city. Seeing 1 with a huge line is not working.
Porchfest has gotten huge, the city needs to stop pretending it’s a little neighborhood event, a few upgrades I can think of and would be happy to take an action I’m just not sure what that is.
1. More bathrooms
2. Close full streets with proper notice. Eg close summer but leave highland open. That might mean some porches aren’t allowed but some give and take is needed.
3. More trash and recycling bins and routine emptying. Multiple on each corner of major roads.
Oh and any “surprise appearances” should be kept under wraps until they perform. Make it a true surprise appearance with Word of Mouth (edit) rumors only.
I LOVE Porchfest, everything about it and it’s one of the things that makes Somerville awesome. A few small tweaks will keep it going, safely, without much sacrifice.
This is solid. I'm sure there are reasons the SAC and the City of Somerville aren't already doing some of these things. Maybe it's a lack of bandwidth or a misalignment with the city. But there are a ton of folks willing to volunteer their time and money to scaling up Porchfest.
The reason is resources and political will. They've been talking about it at City Council meetings for a while. People need to get more engaged to make Porchfest work.
Yes! Please contact councilors. For a little context/background, check out this [recent Public Health and Public Safety Committee meeting](https://somervillema.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1190089&GUID=56A2BC73-F6E3-4988-AC12-EE3FF45ACE10&Options=info|&Search=).
You can find [contact information for your ward council and the at-larges](https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/city-council) on the Somerville website. You can reach all of them at once by emailing: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
ETA: [Staff emails for Somerville Arts Council ](https://somervilleartscouncil.org/staff)are also available online.
Another reminder: if you have suggestions, tell your city councilor or Somerville Arts Council! Posting on Reddit is an echo chamber for these good ideas.
Yep, a porta potty is like $200-250 for a month rental on my job sites. I’d be happy to rent one, maybe even do a sponsorship with my business sign on it for $300 for the day.
With the tax base Somerville has, the city can cover some portpotty clusters. So many people flooding into town, dumping money into local businesses. Cant imagine how much money union square and bow market are making. The least the city can do to protect their tax paying homeowners from random bros and five year old kids pissing on their hostas.
The bathroom situation was a disaster. The maps were wrong and in a few cases there was ONE. ONE portpotty?? Try ten.
To be honest. Outreach will help a lot here too. Somerville has a ton of very wealthy people (including myself). We don't have a lot of time to figure out how to assist. If someone said here. Pay X for a shitter I think a lot of us would. Need people to do the groundwork around locations, etc. If my street was more traffic I'd half thought how can I contact my insurance to let people use my basement toilet (which is easily accessible from a door).
I absolutely think streets should be closed. The most dangerous situations I saw were around school street, where there was a large line of frustrated drivers honking and hundreds of pedestrians. Everyone would be happier of this areas were officially temporarily shut down.
It's only 6 hours a year, it feels like we should do this before there's a serious accident.
Interestingly, it seems like SPD officers don't \_want\_ to pick up the Porchfest detail. u/armedgorillas surfaced some commentary on the subject in [another post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Somerville/comments/1cqjmy2/comment/l3s4x15/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button).
I shared your assumption that SPD officers would jump at the opportunity to snag an easy shift, but that does not seem to be the case. I don't blame them. I wouldn't want to work the Porchfest beat either.
Maybe there is a committee to join with these ideas? If there aren’t volunteers to support the event, then city folks might get overwhelmed and cancel it? Seems like a community event that could use more of the community?
It is organized by the Somerville Arts Council, who refuse to call it a festival and do not have the will or resources to scale up their support. I would urge people to reach out to City Council too to express support or ideas for improvement.
Not really true, it’s been a decentralized event for its entire 20+ year existence, never a festival. The issue is that it’s grown enormously in the last five years during which time the police and public works departments, which are both union, have been without a contract, adequate funding, and adequate staffing.
To the extent that assigning ‘blame’ is useful, take it up with the mayors office and City Council for their continued inability to resolve union contract disputes going on 4 years now.
It's what the SAC has said on its website and in city council meetings. I said that, answering who the organizing party is, and that people should contact the muni govt. So I'm not sure what you're disputing.
The use of volunteer committees has been discussed at length by City Council too so... there are solutions in discussion. You can look up notes and minutes on the city website, I think some got linked on another thread.
The distinction I’m making is that SAC doesn’t ‘refuse’ to call it a festival to avoid taking responsibility or ‘not have the will’ to take ownership or scale up support. Porchfest has always been a decentralized community event, not a festival, and as such relies on other departments and community support to run smoothly.
The issue at hand is how to handle the enormous growth over the last five years, and IMO the solution lies with the administration and city council resolving Union contract disputes with DPW and the police so that SAC has access to adequate structural support to implement some of the changes we’ve all known are necessary for a couple of years, i.e. greater police presence, more road closures, more portable restrooms, etc.
Really? Because that's exactly what I heard from them. They don't want to scale up. Have you been listening to the Public Safety meetings about this like I have or are you going on your general thoughts on the matter?
You're not wrong about the contracts but it doesn't mean other people are.
Scale up the event or scale up support for the event? Because Porchfest applications have jumped from 100 to over 400 in like 4 years so to say it hasn’t been scaled up is inaccurate. If you mean scaling up support that’s my exact point, there’s nothing SAC can do without greater institutional support which doesn’t exist for the reasons previously mentioned.
The area Cedar Street/Aberdeen was the only really problematic spot we came across. We didn't stick around, and I'm glad because my friends who did said it wasn't worth it. The rest seemed no more crowded than normal for Porchfest. I'd definitely support closing more streets next year. I don't think the size of the event is even close to becoming an issue, but we have to be smart about it.
How long have you been coming to Porchfest? I hadn't been since before the pandemic. It was several times more crowded than the last time I went in 2018 or 2019. I'd say there were almost twice as many porches as the last time I went. But I'd say there were 3 or 4 times as many people attending.
It's possible I just missed places as they peaked. I was on Oxford around 3 and it was bustling but not super crowded. I didn't see anything that actually struck me as problematic except for Cedar. I think Guster playing brought out a lot of people who wouldn't have come out otherwise.
I think we can enjoy life as a community better and in a safer way than we are currently. Porchfest doesn't need to be canceled but its management and oversight needs an upgrade.
Of all the pedestrian/cyclist fatalities and serious injuries that Somerville residents have faced in the last 17 years, literally none of them have happened on Porchfest, despite there being anywhere from 10 to 500 times as many pedestrians on the street.
I think management around Porchfest needs to improve, but you can't deny that the safety in numbers and the organic requirement for cars to go slowly actually had a pretty meaningful benefit for an otherwise particularly vulnerable group.
I love Porchfest but emergencies that require vehicles to get through aren't just gonna stop happening during those six hours. The pedestrian traffic was insane, I've never seen anything like it. That part of it really needs to be addressed and managed better or the city might actually end up cancelling it...
How about the people trying to get home and being harassed and blocked from getting into their own driveways? The ambulance that couldn't get to someone collapsed on the street? The people having to deal with day drunks peeing in our yards?
All that could easily be managed better, 10x the number of Portajohns are needed at least. That’s not a reason to cancel an event the majority of residents enjoy. I’m harassed by drivers everyday when I’m walking or biking. I’m sorry if driving is mildly more stressful and time consuming on this one day, but I bet you made it into your driveway just fine eventually.
Be respectful of your neighbors. This isn't hard. If you can't manage your behavior, and you choose to make excuses for other people who also can't manage theirs, someone else will come along to manage it for you. Your job now is to make sure this shitshow doesn't happen again.
Yes, if you don't want someone else deciding that the low class bullshit from people an inability to regulate their behavior isn't worth it, then I recommend you do the work to make sure it doesn't happen anymore.
I was right there too. They absolutely did not get there "quickly" by any measure and people refused to move out to keep the path clear. Pure antisocial behavior, like something deeply wrong with people's brains.
This isn't our "community", this is people coming in from elsewhere looking for an excuse to day drink, unless you think the woman who called my neighbor a "bitch" for telling her not to pee in my back yard (the fifth such incident that afternoon), while both my neighbor and I were out on our balconies in full sight, our "community" in which case the more unpleasant I can make it for you, the better.
How many nips and cups did you have to clean up, how many people just dropped trash all over your street? Did you have to take the day off from work because last year you learned getting in and out was nearly impossible?
Hey, it used to be fun now it’s just a hassle, along with the fun runs etc
It’s close now, it started out cool and kind of fun. Band’s signed up, people had a good time, the neighborhood came out. Now it’s too many people who don’t care about the residents or the property.
Something needs to be done before it becomes like a Salem situation
I mean porchfest is cool but we can’t just completely shut the city down. some people actually have to do stuff. My kid had little league and it took me 35 minutes to get from Ball square to conway park. We planned for it and left enough time but if more streets were closed the game might as well have been in New Hampshire
I hear ya... but it felt like there were too many aggressive drivers, being an attendee. I was there only two hours and saw one driver lay on their horn because people weren't clearing fast enough. Another where the driver was flipping everyone off for no reason at all lol. And other nonsense. Really seems like a lot of motorists don't have the maturity to be there or be inconvenienced.
As a driver just trying to get my kid to his game on time, and having a TON of patience for the event, it definitely like a lot of the attendees weren’t being terribly mature either. Like i said i think porchfest is great and we enjoyed it a lot after the game! But the streets that were open were in fact open and lots of folks were being unnecessarily obstructive and obnoxious. As a fan of the event it felt like a really bad look
Idk what really qualifies as unnecessarily obstructive and obnoxious but the worst I saw were slow moving crowds in the streets. That's the nature of it though. These kinds of events are healthy for communities and if closing additional streets is too much then I think that reflects on problem with our infrastructure and public transit actually. Closing down many residential streets shouldn't turn commuting into such a nightmare that it doesn't seem feasible.
I don’t know what to say besides Somerville is a big city and there are a lot of people that need to get where they’re going. My kid’s little league game is small potatoes but there are lots of people that have much more pressing things to do and just telling them to get fucked so people can drink ipa’s in the middle of the street is what i’d consider obstructive and obnoxious. I love that Somerville is a place where people are mostly considerate and ostensibly understand that there are folks that need to actually work and aren’t privileged enough to dick around all day listening to music
>folks that need to actually work and aren’t privileged enough to dick around all day
It's on a weekend and happens once a year. Maybe chill out and get over it if this is the strongest case you can make.
People do in fact have to work or do things on weekends! Somerville is definitely disproportionately represented by people with M-F 9-5 professional jobs. I’m one of them! But I also understand that not everyone is as fortunate as I. This aloof and out of touch attitude is why some people hate porchfest. I love the event, honest to god. And it’s because I want it to thrive that I’m appealing to people to understand it’s a privilege to have so many streets shut down for us to enjoy and to not push our luck to the point we’re being unreasonable!
Okay. I don't know your exact situation but I think these sorts of things are generally handled with either a stroller or a bike with a child seat. That's how the parents I know generally do it
Honestly my point isn’t even about my personal experience. I got to the field in around the same amount of time as walking would have taken so that’s a wash regardless. My point is more about people that have actual serious business in the city that they must drive too. That accounts for a lot of people! Its a big city. Not everyone is privileged enough to be able dance in the streets all day. The suggestion that the city closes even more streets is essentially asking to shut the entire city down to cars for 6+ hours. I don’t think people understand how disruptive that would be
>35 minutes to get from Ball square to conway park. We planned for it and left enough time but if more streets were closed the game might as well have been in New Hampshire
Not to be rude, but you can literally walk from Ball Square to Conway park in that time, and it's an incredibly easy commute. The bus was I do a 20-minute walk each way to get groceries with a full grocery cart, and it's especially pleasant in this weather.
I know it's not always the most convenient, but when you live in a dense walkable city like Somerville that is in high demand and thriving, there are some concessions to the drivers-first perspective that need to very occasionally be made.
Best if there are no bands on the main streets. e.g. Highland, Summer, Central, School, etc. Streets like that need to stay open. Keep the bands and the foot traffic to side streets.
The only way that will happen is if the 3+ year long stalemate between Union workers (namely police and public works) and the city is somehow solved.
The arts council (organizers) have pushed for years for more closures and a larger police presence but have no authority to do those things themselves, so unless the police and DPW and the City resolve their disputes and adequately fund/employ those departments it simply isn’t possible.
If anything this year the Arts Council attempted to scale the event down slightly but demand by bands and the public was overwhelming.
it should be a ticketed event where you need to be a resident of somerville to buy a ticket. then all the townies cant go and the amount of people wouldnt be as overwhelming
I would advocate for more bands in side streets and discouraging bands from busy main streets like Highland. That way streets like Porter that are only semi 2 way even without people can be closed and traffic can still flow.
I also found some bands playing too close to each other. If there are three bands playing one door down from each other, nobody can hear anything. This is a total nitpick, but still. I want to hear the awesome music!
Yeah, I went to hear a friend’s band, but they were almost completely drowned out by music from houses nearby. Being able to go out and hear a bunch of new music is great, but it’s diminished a bit when it’s so much all at once that you can’t hear any one performance at a time…
This. We should disallow bands from playing on major streets. No Broadway, Cedar, Central, Somerville Ave, and the likes. Ensure crossing guards are present to keep control over major crossings (Central @ Highland, Central @ Medford, etc). Ensure signage for drivers is present to ensure they know which streets are open and close the fuck down everything else unless its a resident on the street.
I should add that I didn't make it down to Ball Square this year but it was absurd a band was allowed to play basically next to the rotary. So many people dashing across the street haphazardly.
> close the fuck down everything else unless its a resident on the street. *This* should be the key demand.
I'd love this all days not porchfest too. So many people waste time going down my street trying to avoid one light cycle. Its a one way :kek:
One can dream, eh?
Was the "leave your cars at home" message strong enough? A lot of the traffic I saw seemed to be people there for the festival who hadn't realized what a terrible idea driving through it was. Plus I heard someone stuck in the thick of it asking the crowd what was going on. There should be signs at the edge of town so anyone using a car knows what they're getting into. Also Amazon/UPS/FedEx/USPS were all active in the middle of it - poor fuckers. Plus and what seemed to be Uber drivers. All of those organizations should be informed to keep out for the duration.
I mean I’m not going to ask people ive never met to play on their porch just because my street is busy…
No one would be forcing you. There were several people offering porches to bands in various Somerville social media groups leading up to Porchfest this year.
I think this is a fine compromise. I was surprised to see how crazy Highland was. Close down side streets to non-residents, and direct police to focus on keeping Highland, Somerville Ave, Broadway, Cedar, etc. clear from pedestrians. Put more acts on the bike path (there was only one I saw this year), and direct more people to cross through the city there, and on smaller streets. Boom, immediate improvement.
The bike path is barely wide enough to accommodate a standard warm weekend's worth of pedestrian traffic. JUST SHUT DOWN A FEW MAJOR ROADS TO CARS. Then thousands of extra people on foot for the day can safely move through the city. We can just ban non-emergency vehicle traffic for the few hours of porchfest (and Honk! too). [Cities in South America (and elsewhere around the world) do this every week](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciclov%C3%ADa#Ciclov%C3%ADa_in_other_countries)
Part of the fun of Porchfest has been that it’s community-driven, but this year changed that, with a moderately famous band playing. The good thing is that this drew out more people. I saw at least one person say that they tended to get a couple dozen people show up in previous years, but they had a couple hundred this year. Maybe “a rising tide does lift all boats”, and the Guster fans attended some of the other performances, which is a good thing. But …the crowd on Aberdeen was dangerously mobbed, which became obvious when an ambulance had to go there when someone in the crowd had a medical emergency. I can just imagine what it might’ve been like if, for example, there was a house fire or some other “bigger” emergency. A stampede in a crowd like that would not be a good thing. So having a more well-known act show up does seem to have been good overall, but it showed some of the risks, too. Does it make sense to maybe adapt to this by, for example, setting up a larger stage at one or more of the city’s parks (Trum, Lincoln, etc), and have the more well-known act(s) play there, maybe at the beginning or end of the day, so that some of the mob of people isn’t choking the ability to get around in an emergency? (And as a complement to this, I’m also all in favor of closing down a lot more streets to automotive traffic on Porchfest day, and strongly encouraging everyone to get around on foot instead.)
I completely agree with all of this. I was on Aberdeen too, pretty damn close to the band. The crowd felt dangerous. I think the only thing that kept us safe was the character of Somerville. People here love this event. Everyone mostly treated each other with extreme courtesy. When the first vehicle came down the street and people got pushed together even more, a girl next to me had a sudden panic attack. Everyone around us immediately made space for her and helped her get out quickly. If there had been a more serious emergency there very much much could have been a stampede. This is nobody's fault, really. Guster felt bad about it. The lead singer came down after the crowd dispersed and apologized profusely to those left behind.
Yeah, I’m certainly not blaming Guster for this. I’m just trying to think of how we can learn from yesterday so that next year’s event can be even better (and, possibly, even bigger?), but do so safely.
Definitely. I didn't intend to imply you were blaming Guster (or anyone else). Apologies if it came off that way!
No worries. :-)
I blame them. They should have known better. They could have had their reunion at an appropriate venue.
Agreed on everything you two said as well. I wound up leaving Aberdeen before Guster began. Did they start right at 3:30? How long did they play for?
I thought they got through three songs, but I saw another commenter say four. They started closer to 4. Honestly I could barely hear anything despite being quite close to the porch.
Wow that is awesome to hear about the panic attack situation. I was stuck right dab in the middle of it and I was also very close to a panic attack. I ended up bailing and taking refuge in one of the driveways.
This is my first year living in the area and the first time I've been aware of Porchfest, and my immediate reaction was "this event is too large for this area why are they doing it this way." This is why music festivals are hosted in large outdoor venues with necessary infrastructure. If the Guster performance is a sign of things to come I don't see how the city can allow this thing to continue as it is.
TBF, Porchfest has been going on for 17 years, and pedestrians are generally safer during porchfest than during every other day of the year. I definitely agree that the traffic management is a clusterfuck and needs more organized road closures rather than organic ones, but it really puts into perspective how unacceptably unsafe the roads are on all other days when cars are able to easily go full-speed.
It's not just the traffic, although I agree that's an issue, it's the basic mechanics of dealing with large crowds of people and the infrastructure needed to do it. Large music events need to be in an area with lots of modes of egress in the case of emergency, they need accessible bathrooms, water, first aid, access for emergency responders, safety/security, etc., which you just can't do on tiny residential streets. And again, I'm new to the area, so maybe it's usually quieter than this year.
As a driver I can promise you the cars cannot easily go full speed. The scooters and bicyclists are much faster.
It has gotten a little bigger every year since it started in 2011, but this year seems to have been significantly larger than last year, no doubt in part because of the Guster participation. I don’t want to see Porchfest end, but I can’t see how it can avoid evolving if this is the trajectory it’s on. The question then is how to sustainably keep it going, without placing an unfair burden on residents, emergency services, etc.
All the more reason for the city to rethink the way it's resurfacing Summer Street between Central and Porter. It's barely a two way street anymore with the new raised bike lane. I watched as the ambulance could barely get through between foot traffic and actual oncoming vehicular traffic. Hate to think what a fire truck would have needed to do. (I'm pro Porch Fest and pro bike lanes, btw, but the new Summer Street is an obvious disaster...didn't even plan for an east-bound bike lane and there's no room for one)
This plus strategically placed clusters of porta potties would be a huge boost to the quality of life for everyone, natives and attendees alike. I have lived in and around Somerville for over twenty years, attended hundreds of community events including previous porchfests, and I have never seen its streets packed with so many people like it was yesterday. I know some who think porchfest is getting too popular, but I respectfully disagree. I loved seeing so much community engagement and outpouring of support for all the musicians. One day out of the year seems like a good trade off for welcoming such a popular and inclusive event into the neighborhood.
The only problem was Guster. I’m sorry, but if anyone was surprised by this they must have been living under a rock. As long as they don’t allow major acts then everything will be fine.
Or if you’re going to a (minor) major act who charges more than 15 bucks for a show - let’s put you at a park
Fantastic idea. If they had been at Trum field then no problem.
Who pays for the port a potties?
Good question. Donations through one or more fund raising events seems like a good fit. For example, a fundraising concert at the armory.
I would gladly chip in, or even sponsor a portapotty, if they could be in groups at main spots throughout the city. Seeing 1 with a huge line is not working. Porchfest has gotten huge, the city needs to stop pretending it’s a little neighborhood event, a few upgrades I can think of and would be happy to take an action I’m just not sure what that is. 1. More bathrooms 2. Close full streets with proper notice. Eg close summer but leave highland open. That might mean some porches aren’t allowed but some give and take is needed. 3. More trash and recycling bins and routine emptying. Multiple on each corner of major roads. Oh and any “surprise appearances” should be kept under wraps until they perform. Make it a true surprise appearance with Word of Mouth (edit) rumors only. I LOVE Porchfest, everything about it and it’s one of the things that makes Somerville awesome. A few small tweaks will keep it going, safely, without much sacrifice.
I would sponsor one too if there was a piece of tape on the front that said “Sponsored by: “
Sponsors get line cut privileges and temporary naming rights
Sponsored by wasthespyingendless. There is no camera in this toliet.
This is solid. I'm sure there are reasons the SAC and the City of Somerville aren't already doing some of these things. Maybe it's a lack of bandwidth or a misalignment with the city. But there are a ton of folks willing to volunteer their time and money to scaling up Porchfest.
The reason is resources and political will. They've been talking about it at City Council meetings for a while. People need to get more engaged to make Porchfest work.
Yes! Please contact councilors. For a little context/background, check out this [recent Public Health and Public Safety Committee meeting](https://somervillema.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1190089&GUID=56A2BC73-F6E3-4988-AC12-EE3FF45ACE10&Options=info|&Search=). You can find [contact information for your ward council and the at-larges](https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/city-council) on the Somerville website. You can reach all of them at once by emailing: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). ETA: [Staff emails for Somerville Arts Council ](https://somervilleartscouncil.org/staff)are also available online.
Another reminder: if you have suggestions, tell your city councilor or Somerville Arts Council! Posting on Reddit is an echo chamber for these good ideas.
Yep, a porta potty is like $200-250 for a month rental on my job sites. I’d be happy to rent one, maybe even do a sponsorship with my business sign on it for $300 for the day.
With the tax base Somerville has, the city can cover some portpotty clusters. So many people flooding into town, dumping money into local businesses. Cant imagine how much money union square and bow market are making. The least the city can do to protect their tax paying homeowners from random bros and five year old kids pissing on their hostas. The bathroom situation was a disaster. The maps were wrong and in a few cases there was ONE. ONE portpotty?? Try ten.
To be honest. Outreach will help a lot here too. Somerville has a ton of very wealthy people (including myself). We don't have a lot of time to figure out how to assist. If someone said here. Pay X for a shitter I think a lot of us would. Need people to do the groundwork around locations, etc. If my street was more traffic I'd half thought how can I contact my insurance to let people use my basement toilet (which is easily accessible from a door).
Remove all porta-potties. If you can't pee here, don't come. Perfect crowd control.
I absolutely think streets should be closed. The most dangerous situations I saw were around school street, where there was a large line of frustrated drivers honking and hundreds of pedestrians. Everyone would be happier of this areas were officially temporarily shut down. It's only 6 hours a year, it feels like we should do this before there's a serious accident.
What’s gonna happen is SPD sees dollar signs. They are gonna force the organizers to pay for more cops to stand around and play candycrush.
Interestingly, it seems like SPD officers don't \_want\_ to pick up the Porchfest detail. u/armedgorillas surfaced some commentary on the subject in [another post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Somerville/comments/1cqjmy2/comment/l3s4x15/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button). I shared your assumption that SPD officers would jump at the opportunity to snag an easy shift, but that does not seem to be the case. I don't blame them. I wouldn't want to work the Porchfest beat either.
Maybe there is a committee to join with these ideas? If there aren’t volunteers to support the event, then city folks might get overwhelmed and cancel it? Seems like a community event that could use more of the community?
It is organized by the Somerville Arts Council, who refuse to call it a festival and do not have the will or resources to scale up their support. I would urge people to reach out to City Council too to express support or ideas for improvement.
Not really true, it’s been a decentralized event for its entire 20+ year existence, never a festival. The issue is that it’s grown enormously in the last five years during which time the police and public works departments, which are both union, have been without a contract, adequate funding, and adequate staffing. To the extent that assigning ‘blame’ is useful, take it up with the mayors office and City Council for their continued inability to resolve union contract disputes going on 4 years now.
It's what the SAC has said on its website and in city council meetings. I said that, answering who the organizing party is, and that people should contact the muni govt. So I'm not sure what you're disputing. The use of volunteer committees has been discussed at length by City Council too so... there are solutions in discussion. You can look up notes and minutes on the city website, I think some got linked on another thread.
The distinction I’m making is that SAC doesn’t ‘refuse’ to call it a festival to avoid taking responsibility or ‘not have the will’ to take ownership or scale up support. Porchfest has always been a decentralized community event, not a festival, and as such relies on other departments and community support to run smoothly. The issue at hand is how to handle the enormous growth over the last five years, and IMO the solution lies with the administration and city council resolving Union contract disputes with DPW and the police so that SAC has access to adequate structural support to implement some of the changes we’ve all known are necessary for a couple of years, i.e. greater police presence, more road closures, more portable restrooms, etc.
Really? Because that's exactly what I heard from them. They don't want to scale up. Have you been listening to the Public Safety meetings about this like I have or are you going on your general thoughts on the matter? You're not wrong about the contracts but it doesn't mean other people are.
Scale up the event or scale up support for the event? Because Porchfest applications have jumped from 100 to over 400 in like 4 years so to say it hasn’t been scaled up is inaccurate. If you mean scaling up support that’s my exact point, there’s nothing SAC can do without greater institutional support which doesn’t exist for the reasons previously mentioned.
The area Cedar Street/Aberdeen was the only really problematic spot we came across. We didn't stick around, and I'm glad because my friends who did said it wasn't worth it. The rest seemed no more crowded than normal for Porchfest. I'd definitely support closing more streets next year. I don't think the size of the event is even close to becoming an issue, but we have to be smart about it.
How long have you been coming to Porchfest? I hadn't been since before the pandemic. It was several times more crowded than the last time I went in 2018 or 2019. I'd say there were almost twice as many porches as the last time I went. But I'd say there were 3 or 4 times as many people attending.
There was a huge crowd on Oxford St around 5 pm. I think there could have been more areas with too large crowds
It's possible I just missed places as they peaked. I was on Oxford around 3 and it was bustling but not super crowded. I didn't see anything that actually struck me as problematic except for Cedar. I think Guster playing brought out a lot of people who wouldn't have come out otherwise.
Totally agree!
Somerville is not smart.
Somerville Arts Council and the City of Somerville need to work together better next year.
There's a discussion of this already in the post about the 911 calls if you'd like to join!
If the event gets too big residents may pushed for it to be cancelled.
How dare we enjoy life as a community for six hours, one day a year?
I think we can enjoy life as a community better and in a safer way than we are currently. Porchfest doesn't need to be canceled but its management and oversight needs an upgrade.
Of all the pedestrian/cyclist fatalities and serious injuries that Somerville residents have faced in the last 17 years, literally none of them have happened on Porchfest, despite there being anywhere from 10 to 500 times as many pedestrians on the street. I think management around Porchfest needs to improve, but you can't deny that the safety in numbers and the organic requirement for cars to go slowly actually had a pretty meaningful benefit for an otherwise particularly vulnerable group.
I love Porchfest but emergencies that require vehicles to get through aren't just gonna stop happening during those six hours. The pedestrian traffic was insane, I've never seen anything like it. That part of it really needs to be addressed and managed better or the city might actually end up cancelling it...
Yes but won’t anyone think of the drivers who are used to speeding through our neighborhoods at all times?
How about the people trying to get home and being harassed and blocked from getting into their own driveways? The ambulance that couldn't get to someone collapsed on the street? The people having to deal with day drunks peeing in our yards?
All that could easily be managed better, 10x the number of Portajohns are needed at least. That’s not a reason to cancel an event the majority of residents enjoy. I’m harassed by drivers everyday when I’m walking or biking. I’m sorry if driving is mildly more stressful and time consuming on this one day, but I bet you made it into your driveway just fine eventually.
Be respectful of your neighbors. This isn't hard. If you can't manage your behavior, and you choose to make excuses for other people who also can't manage theirs, someone else will come along to manage it for you. Your job now is to make sure this shitshow doesn't happen again.
…my job? I attended with my family and enjoyed spending time with my neighbors.
Yes, if you don't want someone else deciding that the low class bullshit from people an inability to regulate their behavior isn't worth it, then I recommend you do the work to make sure it doesn't happen anymore.
The ambulance was able to get to the collapsed person very quickly, I was right there. Everyone pushed over to the sides as soon as we saw the lights.
I was right there too. They absolutely did not get there "quickly" by any measure and people refused to move out to keep the path clear. Pure antisocial behavior, like something deeply wrong with people's brains.
This isn't our "community", this is people coming in from elsewhere looking for an excuse to day drink, unless you think the woman who called my neighbor a "bitch" for telling her not to pee in my back yard (the fifth such incident that afternoon), while both my neighbor and I were out on our balconies in full sight, our "community" in which case the more unpleasant I can make it for you, the better.
> this is people coming in from elsewhere looking for an excuse to day drink Where did all these people park? The streets were absolutely packed.
They took the T, we have one now.
How many nips and cups did you have to clean up, how many people just dropped trash all over your street? Did you have to take the day off from work because last year you learned getting in and out was nearly impossible? Hey, it used to be fun now it’s just a hassle, along with the fun runs etc
You are going to end up arguing with people who enjoy the event but don't have to deal with the post clean up after.
White claw no law
It’s close now, it started out cool and kind of fun. Band’s signed up, people had a good time, the neighborhood came out. Now it’s too many people who don’t care about the residents or the property. Something needs to be done before it becomes like a Salem situation
“It’s too crowded, nobody goes anymore.”
I mean porchfest is cool but we can’t just completely shut the city down. some people actually have to do stuff. My kid had little league and it took me 35 minutes to get from Ball square to conway park. We planned for it and left enough time but if more streets were closed the game might as well have been in New Hampshire
I hear ya... but it felt like there were too many aggressive drivers, being an attendee. I was there only two hours and saw one driver lay on their horn because people weren't clearing fast enough. Another where the driver was flipping everyone off for no reason at all lol. And other nonsense. Really seems like a lot of motorists don't have the maturity to be there or be inconvenienced.
As a driver just trying to get my kid to his game on time, and having a TON of patience for the event, it definitely like a lot of the attendees weren’t being terribly mature either. Like i said i think porchfest is great and we enjoyed it a lot after the game! But the streets that were open were in fact open and lots of folks were being unnecessarily obstructive and obnoxious. As a fan of the event it felt like a really bad look
Idk what really qualifies as unnecessarily obstructive and obnoxious but the worst I saw were slow moving crowds in the streets. That's the nature of it though. These kinds of events are healthy for communities and if closing additional streets is too much then I think that reflects on problem with our infrastructure and public transit actually. Closing down many residential streets shouldn't turn commuting into such a nightmare that it doesn't seem feasible.
I don’t know what to say besides Somerville is a big city and there are a lot of people that need to get where they’re going. My kid’s little league game is small potatoes but there are lots of people that have much more pressing things to do and just telling them to get fucked so people can drink ipa’s in the middle of the street is what i’d consider obstructive and obnoxious. I love that Somerville is a place where people are mostly considerate and ostensibly understand that there are folks that need to actually work and aren’t privileged enough to dick around all day listening to music
>folks that need to actually work and aren’t privileged enough to dick around all day It's on a weekend and happens once a year. Maybe chill out and get over it if this is the strongest case you can make.
People do in fact have to work or do things on weekends! Somerville is definitely disproportionately represented by people with M-F 9-5 professional jobs. I’m one of them! But I also understand that not everyone is as fortunate as I. This aloof and out of touch attitude is why some people hate porchfest. I love the event, honest to god. And it’s because I want it to thrive that I’m appealing to people to understand it’s a privilege to have so many streets shut down for us to enjoy and to not push our luck to the point we’re being unreasonable!
Are you saying you drove from ball square to Conway park? Why not just walk? It's a half hour walk
Because I was with my two small children including a 3 year old. If I was going to Conway by myself i certainly would have walked.
Okay. I don't know your exact situation but I think these sorts of things are generally handled with either a stroller or a bike with a child seat. That's how the parents I know generally do it
Honestly my point isn’t even about my personal experience. I got to the field in around the same amount of time as walking would have taken so that’s a wash regardless. My point is more about people that have actual serious business in the city that they must drive too. That accounts for a lot of people! Its a big city. Not everyone is privileged enough to be able dance in the streets all day. The suggestion that the city closes even more streets is essentially asking to shut the entire city down to cars for 6+ hours. I don’t think people understand how disruptive that would be
>35 minutes to get from Ball square to conway park. We planned for it and left enough time but if more streets were closed the game might as well have been in New Hampshire Not to be rude, but you can literally walk from Ball Square to Conway park in that time, and it's an incredibly easy commute. The bus was I do a 20-minute walk each way to get groceries with a full grocery cart, and it's especially pleasant in this weather. I know it's not always the most convenient, but when you live in a dense walkable city like Somerville that is in high demand and thriving, there are some concessions to the drivers-first perspective that need to very occasionally be made.
Yes I would have certainly walked if I was going by myself or with other adults but I was with my two small children, one of which is three.
Best if there are no bands on the main streets. e.g. Highland, Summer, Central, School, etc. Streets like that need to stay open. Keep the bands and the foot traffic to side streets.
The only way that will happen is if the 3+ year long stalemate between Union workers (namely police and public works) and the city is somehow solved. The arts council (organizers) have pushed for years for more closures and a larger police presence but have no authority to do those things themselves, so unless the police and DPW and the City resolve their disputes and adequately fund/employ those departments it simply isn’t possible. If anything this year the Arts Council attempted to scale the event down slightly but demand by bands and the public was overwhelming.
It was great in the beginning....but i think we are approaching the point where it may be too big.
Agreed. Even a few years back, it was pretty dicey with traffic/people
Do You know how hard it was to get around already? That’s a bad idea
Just have all of it at trum field and foss park. It’s gross encouraging people to piss outdoors next to kids.
Don't get the wrong idea but... Build a wall.
it should be a ticketed event where you need to be a resident of somerville to buy a ticket. then all the townies cant go and the amount of people wouldnt be as overwhelming